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Driving the dead wherewithal -

Back in antiquity, if you had the wealth and wherewithal, you could depart this world in considerable style. The sumptuous hearse that transported the body of Alexander the Great from Babylon to Alexandria took two years to construct. The carriage featured gilding, extensive sculptural elements, and paintings.

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Hand-drawn hearse -

Much later in 14th-century Europe, hearses were known as biers and were hand-drawn. The example pictured here is displayed in the church of Arc-en-Barrois, in France.

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Bier -

These original hearses were comprised of a wooden or metal framework, which stood over the bier or coffin and supported the pall. Hearses were generally pulled by oxen, and later by horses.

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King Richard II -

In 1400 after dying in prison at Pontefract Castle in unknown circumstances, the exposed body of the deposed King Richard II was brought to St Paul's Cathedral on a wooden bier where it lay in state for two days, not so much to honor the late monarch but to allow confirmation by mourners that the king was in fact deceased.

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Wax hearses and funeral effigies -

In the 15th and 16th centuries, hearses crafted from wax made for royalty were commonplace, wax being easier to carve and mold. Wax effigies of the deceased were also made, placed on top of the coffin. Pictured is the actual funeral effigy of Queen Mary I, who died 1558.

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The way out in China -

Here is a typical example of a coffin placed on a portable wooden framework during a funeral in 16th-century China.

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Admiral Lord Nelson -

As the decoration and weight of the hearse increased, more horses were needed to pull the vehicle. Pictured is the elaborate funeral car of Admiral Lord Nelson. He was buried on January 9, 1806.

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Napoleon I -

This is the funeral carriage used for the funeral procession of Napoleon I on December 15, 1840 after the return to France of his remains from the island of St Helena, where he had died in exile.

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Pauper's funeral -

Not everyone, however, was afforded a decent burial. This illustration depicts a funeral in January 1847 at Skibbereen, County Cork, during the Great Famine, which was caused by the failure of the Irish potato crop and British government inaction. A wooden cart serves as a makeshift hearse.

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Duke of Wellington -

One of only a handful of non-royals to have been accorded a state funeral, which took place on November 18, 1852, the Duke of Wellington's body was placed in a hearse cast from over 10 tons of bronze cannon captured at Waterloo. It required a team of 12 horses to pull.

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President Abraham Lincoln -

The body of assassinated US president Abraham Lincoln traveled in this elaborate hearse for burial at Springfield, Illinois, on May 4, 1865.

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Victor Hugo -

The hearse carrying the body of French writer and politician Victor Hugo, whose novels include 'The Hunchback of Notre-Dame' (1831) and 'Les Misérables' (1862), is pictured on June 1, 1885 as his remains are transferred to the Pantheon.

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King Kojong of Korea -

A huge lattice frame set on the shoulders of dozens of pallbearers effectively served as a hearse for the coffin of Kojong, the last monarch of Korea, who died on January 21, 1919 in Seoul.

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Sarah Bernhardt -

The hearse bearing the casket of French stage actress Sarah Bernhardt on its way to the Church of Saint Francois de Sales in Paris in March 1923. The hearse was escorted by children from the Paris Orphanage.

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Motorized hearses -

Petrol-powered hearses began to be produced from 1907. Despite their high running costs, motorized hearses proved popular. Pictured is the hearse containing the coffin of Warren Harding, the 29th president of the United States, who died in August 1923.

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Marque of respect -

Those who could afford to be sent off in style had the choice of some very prestigious vehicles. Pictured is a custom-built 1929 Rolls Royce Phantom hearse.

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Grassroots -

By the 1920s, use of the motorized hearse was very much the norm. In this solemn snapshot, crowds line a street in Worcester, England, to bid farewell to a local vicar.

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Clever decoy -

The hearse wasn't always used for what it was designed for, however. During the Prohibition era, several enterprising bootleggers were caught smuggling liquor in the rear of vehicles while masquerading as funeral drivers.

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Water hearse -

A funeral procession occasionally takes place on water, in this case during the 1920s in the Spreewald wetlands southeast of Berlin in Germany, where a flat-bottom barge is serving as a hearse followed by another barge filled with mourners.

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When the hearse becomes newsworthy -

The hearse containing the body of the murdered Lindberg baby leaving the morgue in Trenton, New Jersey, on May 21, 1932 attracted news photographers from across the nation.

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A car that fits the occasion -

The original caption to this July 1934 photograph of the body of slain gangster John Dillinger being removed from the mortuary describes it being placed in a "shabby home town hearse for his last ride back to Mooresville, Indiana, where he will be buried in the family plot." Note the simple whicker casket.

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1950s -

In the United States during the 1950s, automobile manufacturers enjoyed a lucrative sideline producing hearses that reflected the fashionable car designs of the day.

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JFK hearse -

Photographed from a discreet distance, the hearse bearing the body of John F. Kennedy arrived at Love Field in Dallas on November 22 for the flight back to Washington, D.C. shortly after the president's assassination.

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Marilyn Monroe hearse -

Mourners follow the hearse with movie star Marilyn Monroe's casket being taken from the chapel to its final resting place at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, on August 8, 1962.

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Édith Piaf hearse -

Press and public surround the flower-laden hearse delivering the coffin of French chantress Édith Piaf at the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris on October 14, 1963.

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Elvis Presley hearse -

The body of Elvis Presley was transported to his funeral service in Memphis on August 18, 1977 by a white Miller-Meteor Landau Traditional Cadillac hearse. In 1984 in an odd twist, the hearse, by now in private hands, caught fire and ended up in a wrecking yard.

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Royal Hearse -

The Royal Hearse that accommodated the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II is a Jaguar XJ finished in royal claret, the design of which was personally approved by the late British monarch.

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When is a hearse not a hearse? -

Not quite a hearse is the Royal Navy State Funeral Gun Carriage that was first used to carry Queen Victoria's coffin in 1901 (pictured). It was subsequently used to convey the coffins of King Edward VII, King George V, King George VI, Winston Churchill, Lord Mountbatten and, most recently, Queen Elizabeth II. 

Sources: (Town & Country) (History Daily) (Car and Driver)

See also: The most requested music for funerals

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